The present invention relates to baseball cards and the like, and more particularly relates to enhancements to such cards, and their use, that can be provided by digital watermark technology.
For decades, baseball cards have consisted of player photos with associated statistics; nothing more. Recently, however, card vendors have begun looking beyond the strictly paper realm, and have started providing collectables with various interactive features.
For example, Upper Deckxe2x80x94one of the leading card vendorsxe2x80x94recently announced PowerDeckxe2x80x94an interactive CD in a trading card form-factor and distributed in packs with other cards, that features video footage, music, and photos of star NBA athletes.
Similarly, Upper Deck has introduced baseball cards with Internet tie-ins. xe2x80x9cE-Cardsxe2x80x9d are included in selected packs of baseball cards and are each printed with a unique 9 digit identifier number. The cards invite collectors to visit upperdeckdigital.com, and xe2x80x9cdigitizexe2x80x9d their E-Cards. When the collector signs onto the specified web site and types-in a card identifier number, an image of the card is entered into a virtual gallery that displays others of the collector""s E-Cards. Additionally, the user is invited to click on an xe2x80x9cEvolvexe2x80x9d icon to see if the card identifier number is one that has been selected to win a prize. (Prizes include baseball cards with autographs, baseball cards with fragments of famous bats, baseball cards with swatches of famous player jerseys, and other sports memorabilia.)
Card quality has also been upgraded over the years. No longer are cards simply lithographed on inexpensive stock. Increasingly, card manufacturing is a sophisticated undertaking employing advanced manufacturing techniques and various anti-counterfeiting measures (e.g., laminate construction, intaglio printing, holograms, etc.)
Likewise, the subject matter of trading cards has evolved. No longer are cards limited to baseball and football. In addition to other sports (e.g., NASCAR auto racing and hockey), collectable cards now include game cards (e.g., Pokemon and Digimon), music group cards (e.g., InSync, Backstreet Boys), etc., etc. (For expository convenience, the present specification generally focuses on baseball cards, but it should be understood that the disclosed technology is equally applicable to all manner of trading cards.)
The present invention continues the technological advancement of trading cards, and their use.
For example, in one embodiment a trading card includes a steganographic digital watermark. When imaged by a web-connected camera, the card directs a web browser to an internet site corresponding to that card. At the site the user is presented with a variety of information and e-commerce opportunities related to that trading card and the depicted player. For example, the user may review expanded player stats, watch a video clip interview of the player, view clips of famous plays, send email to the player, obtain recent EBay auction prices for that card, link to fan sites or the Major League Baseball site for that player, order tickets for upcoming games, purchase replicas of that player""s game jerseys, etc., etc.
(Digital watermark technology, per se, is detailed in a large body of patent literature, including the present assignee""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,260 and copending application Ser. No. 09/503,881, filed Feb. 14, 2000.)
Other embodiments of the present invention include watermark-based anti-counterfeiting measures, watermark-based promotional contests, watermark processing of packaging, and a great variety of other improvements.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present technology will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description.